How the NHS is supporting victims of the 2017 terror attacks in London
Terrorist attacks are a traumatic experience. In 2017 we suffered four different attacks in London: on Westminster Bridge, in London Bridge and Borough Market on a busy Saturday night, outside the Finsbury Park Mosque and on a commuter train in Parsons Green. People of all ages and nationalities who were going about their daily lives, were enjoying an evening with friends, or travelling to work found themselves under attack. They witnessed horror; some were injured, and some lost their loved ones.
The impact was devastating, and while reactions to this type of traumatic event are unique to each person and their own set of circumstances, we know that trauma often causes much distress and a variety of negative emotions including sadness, anger, guilt, shame, fear and a sense of vulnerability.
Setting up the service
The devastating spate of terror attacks last year led the NHS to develop a comprehensive mental health response in London. As part of this major incident response, NHS England set up a new service; Psychological Trauma Outreach, Screen and Support Service for London Terrorist Incidents. Put simply, our task was to actively outreach to people who were bereaved, injured, or witnessed one of the incidents and first responders, as well as their family and friends, to ensure they received the appropriate NHS psychological care they needed.
I am the clinical lead for this service, and feel passionate about the work that we do.
While we know that the majority of people affected by a terrorist incident (70%) do not develop chronic psychiatric difficulties, around 30% do develop clinical symptoms in response to their experience of the attack.
And our work is to help and support them, often through the most difficult thing they’ll experience
The NHS offers effective psychological treatments for anyone who has experienced a traumatic event, but often many years pass before they seek professional help. On average this is 10 years and this is because they often try hard to avoid thinking and talking about their trauma.
Many people also associate post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with situations of combat and do not realise that PTSD can be developed following other traumatic experiences including terror attacks, crime and accidents.
Chronic PTSD causes distress and can even lead to difficulties with employment, education and relationships.
Sadly, people who struggle with these difficulties sometimes resort to using alcohol and drugs.
How the service work?
First, we actively outreach to anyone we know was involved in any of the London terrorist incidents and contact those who consented to their information being shared with the NHS. We then ask people to fill in a brief well-being screening (please see link screening questionnaire) before either following up with full assessments with specialist psychologists who ensure people who need it receive treatment locally, or keeping in touch and monitoring those who may develop delayed difficulties. We also continue contact with people we referred to treatment to see if they are engaging with and benefiting from their treatment, as well as supporting people around the time of the anniversary of the incident and of the inquest.
We run a similar programme for residents of England who were affected by the attack in Tunisia in 2015 in which 30 British residents lost their lives. The programme also covered survivors from the attacks in Paris and Brussels. We’re really pleased that these treatments went well, and 79% of those treated saw significant improvements in their symptoms, and 71% even recovered from their psychiatric diagnoses. Their feedback on the programme was hugely positive.
We really hope that this service for the 2017 London terror attacks can have the same positive impact for those who experienced such a traumatic event
Find the service
For further information please call 0800 090 23 71 or visit our website www.slam.nhs.uk/outreachandscreen
Dr Idit Albert, Clinical Lead for Psychological Trauma Outreach, Screen and Support Service for London Terrorist Incidents, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Idit Albert is an NHS Consultant Clinical Psychologist specialising in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and is based at the Centre for Anxiety Disorder and Trauma (CADAT).
